Traif Restaurant Review

Y’all, this weekend was wild! Let me just get started by saying fleet week is 100% my favorite week of the year. I have quite the affinity for sailors. I met this amazing guy Josh this weekend and it was his first time in New York for the week/weekend and I got to show him around all my favorite places and y’all it was so fun and he’s such a sweetheart!

We started off by meeting in Bryant Park, from there we went to Magnolia and got cupcakes and then went to The Met. Honestly, bless his heart for putting up with me because we kept getting lost in the subways due to weekend construction.

So for dinner, he wanted to go out to Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn which is the most well known steak place in New York however, the line was extremely long and at this point we were just too hungry to wait but we would have been living our best lives if we went.
After deciding not to wait, we wandered around and yelped until we found Traif. I was just going to order an entree but Josh suggested we do the chefs tasting which is $55 per person and you get 8 small entrees (2 of your choosing but the steak costs extra) and 2 desserts. If you’re interested you can also do the $35 wine tasting if you’re open to trying new drinks! I happen to be picky so I ended up getting wine by the glass which ranged anywhere from $9-15 a glass. He happened to get scotch and whiskey which could go anywhere from $15-20 – he mentioned that the section was really nice.

I managed to only record my meal on snapchat because I didn’t want to disturb everyone with the flash of my camera so here’s a few of my favorite snaps of the meal!

Cucumber salad with mint and basil

Vietnamese lettuce wraps with fish

Spicy Tuna Tartar

Rose and Sauvignon Blanc

So we were so excited when our meal came. I’m the pickiest eater in the world and I’ve never been so excited for a dinner. I loved the suspense and the surprise and at the end I could not help but give my best to the chef! The food was beautiful and so flavorful. I loved the fact that there were so many asian inspired aspects!

Dinner

*I’m going to try and list what we had but please note that Traif does not have a current menu posted anywhere so this is all from memory and taste and from the menus they have posted ALSO note I tried to keep everything in order*

Pea Soup in shooters – This soup was simple and so amazing. It was smooth and creamy and rich in flavor.

Tuna Tartar – I usually don’t eat tuna but I loved this dish! It was bigeye tuna, tempura Japanese eggplant, and kecap manis.

Asparagus Salad – I personally did not love this but I appreciated how well the flavors mixed together. It had green asparagus, pistachios, shaved radish-celery-carrot, yogurt, tarragon, citrus vin.

Cucumber Salad – This was amazing however the mint was super overpowering in the dish.

Parisienne Gnocchi – I loved this but I think the heat was a little too much. It included cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, spicy saffron ‘vodka sauce’.

Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps – I loved this and the fish sauce was to die for. My only dislike was the fact that the fish was full of bones. These were simple lettuce wraps with fish, fish sauce, and bib lettuce.

Buttermilk-Fried ‘Polet Rouge’ Heritage Chicken – These were amazing and to die for. At this point I was super full but I had to keep eating! hushpuppies, honey, red eye aioli

Steak with a gravy and potato puree – This was by far the best dish and it was amazing. It was the best way to end the meal. It was filling and savory and the perfect portion size.

Dessert

Key Lime Pie – Classic key lime pie,

Bacon Doughnuts – Totally more like doughnut holes but they were a super fun twist on a doughnut.

Overall

This place was amazing. The atmosphere was lovely, the pricing was pretty decent for the experience and location and quality of food. I highly recommend going here with a group of friends or on a date. The staff is so friendly and they’re so accommodating. I loved how great they were at suggesting wines and other various things.

The people in the restaurant itself were so sweet. We sat near a couple and all we kept trying to do was share our entrees with each other! I highly recommend this restaurant and I’m so glad it’s one of my new favorite places!